


Nightbirds

by Gabri



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, RotG Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 11:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/798430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabri/pseuds/Gabri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It wouldn't have been the same without you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightbirds

**Author's Note:**

> written for a prompt on the kink meme (which I can't seem locate again u.u)

Their scare with Pitch has brought a new level of gratitude to her work. She appreciates all over again the softness of the children's faces, peaceful in sleep, trusting and innocent as she collects the tiny fragments they've offered. There was a time, once, when she had dreamt as they did, knowing she was watched over safely. It makes her chest tighten, grateful for the memory, although saddened by the parts that have changed.

It takes special care not to touch Sandy's dreamsand as she works. Even the slightest pressure of her fingers could shift the child's vision into something else entirely, and although both would be good dreams at the core, she'd feel guilty for turning a young girl's imagined unicorn into toothbrushes and blue skies.

Keeping this firmly in mind, Tooth carefully makes note of which threads of golden sand have already found their mark before she locates a tendril in the night sky that stretches itself safely out of the children's path. Dipping her fingers into the gold feels like being bathed in light, a sensation that tickles her skin down to the pins of her feathers. She giggles and flits about, drawing forth small, gleaming shapes with every touch - a tiny flying ship, a diamond smile, an elephant with great, bird-like wings.

Her fairies streak by, pausing to laugh or coo, but it's her and her alone that zips up to the oasis of sand where the dreams originate, and it's her that Sandy sees smiling over the dazzling golden cloud, wiggling her fingers shyly.

He waves, and she beams, and over their heads sails the white-gold majesty of several more winged elephants, small enough to fit into her arms.

She can feels her fairies busily working, happy and content. She can sense the sweetness of the children, properly cared for, under both their charges. Sandy pats the space beside him, uses his hands to mime resting his cheek against a pillow. A chorus of delicately shaped Z's pop above his head in tandem. 

She's not sure why, exactly, the idea of pausing to rest is so surprising, but it most show on her face, because Sandy's smile becomes apologetic and suddenly there's nothing she'd like more than to accept.

Careful not to disturb, Tooth lands neatly beside him, and he forms cushions in the sand, gritty but perfectly soft with the lingering glow of fallen stars. The grains create highlights in the dark aqua of her down feathers, sticking to the barbs in a weightless way that makes her think twice about preening. 

Instead, Tooth laughs, and Sandy brightens in the sound.

Up close and in his element, he is quite the sight. His smile is liquid light, his presence is like coming back home, and it's not until she's stood over his funeral candle feeling like her world was shrinking that she even know how much she counted on this part, how much she had taken it for granted. He's her partner in the night, but more than that, he's been a constant, a friend, a bit of warmth she could always count on.

"It wouldn't have been the same without you," she says, and Sandy's smile is brave and strong. She's not one for asking (and Sandy has long since made his crash landing), but if there's one thing she'll ever wish upon a star for, it's that this part remains theirs.


End file.
